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GETTING AROUND |
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Poland has comprehensive and cheap public transport services, though
they can often be overcrowded and excruciatingly slow. As a general rule,
trains are the best means of moving across the country, as all but the
most rural areas are still crisscrossed by passenger lines. Buses come
into their own in the remoter regions of the country, where you'll find
that even the smallest of villages are served by at least one bus a day.
Car rental prices are fairly reasonable, and taxis are cheap enough to
be considered for the occasional inter-town journey, especially if you
can split costs three or four ways (but make sure you use reliable
operators)
Trains
Polish State Railways (PKP) is a reasonably efficient organization,
though its services, particularly on rural routes, have been heavily cut
since the fall of communism and continue to be reduced at frequent
intervals. PKP runs three main types of train ( pociag ):
Intercity or express services ( ekspresowy ) are the ones to go for if
you're travelling long distances, as they stop at the main cities only.
Once slow by western European standards, they are getting faster, with
journey times between Warsaw and Kraków a very respectable 2.5 to 3
hours. Seat reservations, involving a small supplementary charge, are
compulsory; if you haven't understood the reservations system the ticket
inspector can sell you one, albeit at a supplement of around £2/US$3.
Expresses are marked in red on timetables, with an R in a box alongside.
Fast trains ( pospieszny ), again marked in red, have far more stops
than express trains, and reservations are optional. The normal services
( normalny or osobowy ) are shown in black and should be avoided
whenever possible: in rural areas they stop at every haystack, while
even on inter-urban routes it usually takes about an hour to cover 20km.
In effect you go at the speed of a healthy cyclist.
Fares won't burn a hole in the pocket of even the most impoverished
Westerner. Even a long cross-country haul such as Warsaw to Wroclaw,
Kraków or Gdansk will set you back little more than £10/US$14. At these
prices, it's well worth paying the fifty percent extra to travel first-class
( pierwsza klasa ) or make a reservation ( miejscówka ) even when this
is not compulsory, as sardine-like conditions are fairly common.
Reservations can be made up to sixty days in advance, or ninety days for
return trips.
Most long intercity journeys are best done overnight; they're often
conveniently timed so that you leave around 10 or 11pm and arrive
between 6 and 9am. For these, it's advisable to book either a sleeper (
sypialny ) or couchette ( kaszet ) at the station counter marked with
the logo of a bed, at "Polres" offices at main junctions or at Orbis
offices; the total cost will probably be little more than a room in a
cheap hotel. Sleepers cost about 90zl (£15/US$21) per head, in a three-bunk
compartment (though it's rare that all three beds are used), complete
with washbasin, towels, sheets, blankets and a snack. At about 60zl
(£10/US$14), couchettes have six bunks and also come with sheets, a
blanket and a pillow. Midweek, an alternative is to buy a regular first-class
ticket, as there's a good chance of the compartment being empty,
allowing you to sleep on the seats. Finally, a reminder about theft on
trains: overnight sleepers on the principal lines are prime targets for
robberies. One major hazard to watch out for is night-time stops at
Warsaw's Central station en route to elsewhere - thieves regularly hop
on, steal what they can, and hop off again. The best advice is to keep
your compartment locked and your valuables well hidden at all times.
Buses
The extent to which you'll need to make use of the services of PKS, the
Polish national bus company, depends very much on the nature of your
trip. If you're concentrating on journeys between major cities, then the
trains are faster and more numerous. As soon as you start visiting
provincial towns and villages however, buses are likely to be your best
bet.
The PKS network is extraordinarily comprehensive, and buses provide an
excellent means of getting around in those areas not well served by
rail; especially in the mountains, along the coast, and in the Mazurian
lake district. The main disadvantages of bus travel are the slow speed
(in some rural areas, buses rarely exceed an average of 30km per hour)
and the discomfort - buses are likely to be crammed with local
schoolchildren on weekdays. Many of the older vehicles feature broken
seats and bad ventilation - avoid the temptation to sit at the back; the
fumes rising from the engine will have you retching within minutes.
Private bus companies like Polski Express ( ) and Komfort Bus ( ) run
fast and cheap intercity services, although these only operate on radial
routes linking Warsaw with the major provincial capitals.
City transport
Trams are the basis of the public transport system in nearly all Polish
cities. They usually run from about 5am to 11pm, and departure times are
clearly posted at the stops. Tickets can be bought from a Ruch kiosk (just
ask at any kiosk selling newspapers). They can only be used in the city
where they were bought. On boarding, you should immediately cancel your
ticket in one of the machines; checks by inspectors are rare, but they
do happen from time to time. Note that some tickets have to be cancelled
at both ends (arrows will indicate if this is so): this is for the
benefit of children and pensioners, who travel half-price and thus have
to cancel only one end per journey. In some cities (like Gdansk) you pay
for the time you spend on the tram, and have to keep cancelling tickets
(if you're making a long journey) as if feeding a meter. In other cities
(like Warsaw) you pay a flat fare for each single journey - and if you
transfer from one tram to another you'll need a second ticket.
Tram tickets are valid on municipal buses , and the same system for
validating them applies. The routes of the municipal buses go beyond the
city boundaries into the outlying countryside, so many nearby villages
have several connections during peak times of the day. Note that on both
buses and trams, night services require two or three tickets.
The price of taxis is cheap enough to make them a viable proposition for
regular use during your visit. In the new free-market economy, plenty of
people have turned to taxi driving, and outside hotels, stations and
major tourist attractions you often have to run the gauntlet of cabbies.
Make sure you choose a taxi with an illuminated sign on its roof bearing
the company name and phone number.
If you pick up a taxi in the street, you're more likely to pay above-average
prices; the safest and cheapest option is to ring a quoted taxi number
and order one. Generally speaking, you should pay 15-25zl for a cross-city
journey, depending on your time of travel (prices are fifty percent
higher after 11pm). Prices are also raised by fifty percent for journeys
outside the city limits. However, costs are always negotiable for longer
journeys, between towns, for example, and can work out very reasonable
if split among a group
Flights
The domestic network of LOT , the Polish national airline, operates
regular flights from Warsaw to Gdansk, Katowice, Kraków, Poznan, Rzeszów,
Szczecin and Wroclaw - all of which take about an hour. Some routes are
covered several times a day, but services are reduced during the winter
months (end Oct to mid-April). Most of the cities mentioned are also
linked directly to some of the others, but Warsaw is very much the
lynchpin of the system. As a general rule, airports are located just
outside the cities, and can be reached either by a special LOT bus or by
a municipal service.
Tickets can be purchased at the airport itself or from LOT and Orbis
offices, where you can also pick up free timetables (ask for rozklad
lotów ). Prices are currently in the region of £110/US$150 one-way (there
are no savings on returns), though advance booking and occasional
promotional offers can reduce the cost substantially. Children up to the
age of two travel for free, provided they do not occupy a separate seat;
under-12s go for half-price. Private competitors also operate on some
routes.
Boats
In summer, ferries and hydrofoils serve towns along the Baltic coast ,
notably around Szczecin and the Gdansk area where they connect Gdansk,
Sopot and Gdynia with each other and with the Hel Peninsula. For further
information contact the Polish Baltic Shipping Service at ul.
Przemyslowa 1 (tel 058/343 1887, ). For international services contact
Polish Baltic Shipping Service or Stena Line, ul. Kwiatkowskiego 60,
Gdynia (tel 058/665 14 14, tel ).
Inland, excursion boats also run along certain stretches of the
country's extensive system of canals - most enjoyably from Augustów near
Bialystok and along the ingeniously constructed Elblag Canal - and short
sections of the main rivers , such as the Wisla. Additionally, a curious
and somewhat antiquated system of chain-haul car/passenger ferries
serves the upper reaches of the Wisla.
Driving
Although access to a car will save you a lot of time in exploring the
country, traffic is heavy on Poland's main roads. There's a dearth of
multi-lane highways on the trunk routes, ensuring that you'll spend much
of your time trailing behind a stream of slow-moving cars and lorries.
Poland's rural backroads are quiet and hassle-free by comparison, and -
providing you have a decent map - present the perfect terrain for
unhurried touring.
If you're bringing your own car , you'll need to carry your vehicle's
registration document. If the car is not in your name, you must have a
letter of permission signed by the owner and authorized by your national
motoring organization. You'll also need your driving licence (international
driving licences aren't officially required, though they can be a help
in tricky situations), and an international insurance green card to
extend your insurance cover - check with your insurers to see whether
you're covered or not. You're also required to carry a red warning
triangle, a first-aid kit, a set of replacement bulbs and display a
national identification sticker. Note that rear-wheel mud flaps are
obligatory in Poland.
Hitching
A by-product of the previous scarcity of private vehicles in Poland was
that hitchhiking was positively encouraged, with a PTTK-sponsored
voucher scheme and rewards for drivers taking passengers, though this is
much less the case now. If you do hitch, note that the Polish convention
is to stick out your whole arm - not just your thumb.
Cycling
Cycling is often regarded as an ideal way to see a predominantly rural
country like Poland. Particularly on the back roads, surfaces are
generally in good shape, and there isn't much traffic around - anyone
used to cycling in Western traffic is in for a treat. An additional plus
is the mercifully flat nature of much of the terrain, which allows you
to cycle quite long distances without great effort. You'll need to bring
your own machine and a supply of spare parts : except in a few major
cities like Warsaw and Kraków, and a number of southern mountain areas
like the Bieszczady, bike rental and spare part facilities are still a
comparative rarity. In rural areas, though, bikes are fairly common, and
with a bit of ingenuity you can pick up basic spares like inner tubes
and puncture repair kits.
Taking your bike on trains isn't a problem as long as there's a luggage
van on board: if there isn't you usually have to sit with it in the last
carriage of the train, where if you're lucky there'll be fewer
passengers; either way there's a nominal fee. Hotels will usually put
your machine either in a locked luggage room or a guarded parking lot.
You need to exercise at least as much caution concerning security as you
would in any city at home: strong locks and chaining your bike to
immobile objects are the order of the day, and always try and take your
bike indoors at night.
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